OMAHA, Neb. – Former Vanderbilt pitcher Sonny Gray was in attendance for Game 1 of the national championship series on Monday.

Thanks to a day off on the schedule for Oakland, the Athletics’ ace and former Smyrna High standout was able to get on a plane to see the Commodores play their first game in a best-of-three series with Virginia.

“It worked out perfectly,” Gray said. “I was going to New York (Tuesday), and this is about halfway in between. It was really cool to get out here and be back to where I was three years ago.”

Gray, who was the ace of Vanderbilt’s first College World Series team in 2011, spent time in the Vanderbilt dugout chatting with players and coaches.

He said that although he is going through a 162-game major-league season of his own, he has still made time to follow the Commodores’ run to Omaha.

“Surprisingly, I’ve been able to follow them pretty closely,” Gray said. “For the fact of basically my relationship with Coach (Tim) Corbin. He’s like a father or a big brother or whatever you want to call him to me. So it’s very fun to interact with him and be able to be here for him whether it’s a text message or being able to be here in person.”

Gray said it is much more nerve-wracking watching as a fan than it was to play in 2011.

“I’m not used to being a fan,” he said.

What would Gray’s reaction be if Vanderbilt won the national championship?

“It would be awesome,” he said. “It would be so great. Just knowing that we have been here before one other time and then losing before getting to this game. Now they’re here playing in the final series and it’s really special.”